


Halfpenny Horse Opera

by Missy



Category: Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
Genre: F/M, Family, Flashback, Kid Fic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-30
Updated: 2010-05-30
Packaged: 2017-10-09 19:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/90728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/pseuds/Missy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stories about Brisco County litter the west like sagebrush.  The ones that mean the most to him, though, are the ones they keep in the family...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halfpenny Horse Opera

Most stories start with "once upon a time". Stories in the County family start with "did I ever tell you about the time."

"Did I ever tell you the story behind your name?" Dixie asked her son A.F.

A.F, a squirmy four, tilted his head, still. Dixie ocks eyes with her husband before embarking on the story, remembering a private, slightly-less sanitized version of the story…

 

***

_There were cloth diapers and blue tin pins in the saddlebag. Dixie squinted down at them in an early morning haze, unable to figure out why and when things had shifted around._

_"Brisco?" she called over her shoulder._

_"Mph." He was face-down in the hay, his hat upon his neck, missing his jacket and kerchief. Dixie took a moment to appreciate his behind before flinging a look at the infant making disconsolate noises beside him, swaddled in the leather warmth of his jacket. _

_"Oh, Brisco," she grumbled. It wasn't like him to be such a deep sleeper, but they had ridden wildly for the border with a fleet of gunmen at their heel, he at the head of the buckboard driving the horses and she huddled down with the baby in the back, her revolver at hand. _

_That was in the past. Dixie retrieved the diaper and pins, then hunkered down in the hay to change her son's diaper. Brisco stirred awake just as she parted her blouse to give the boy breakfast._

_Brisco looked away. "Sorry Dix." _

_"Why? You've seen 'em before," she pointed out, a look of relief crossing her face as their son latched on. _

_"For falling asleep." He scrubbed his palm over his eyes. "What time is it?" _

_"The sun came up an hour ago, when he woke up." She rocked the baby softly and took a deep breath. "Brisco, do you know where we are?"_

_He sat up and leaned against his knee. "We should be three miles outside of Houston." _

_"We were three miles outside of Houston until those bandits chased us off the road," she pointed out. Carefully, Dixie ran a finger over their son's silken hair, thick and black, feeling his fingers clasp and unclasp around her fingers. "We could be anywhere."_

_"We'll ask the farmer where we are," Brisco suggested. He watched Dixie with the boy and lapsed into thoughtfulness. "Can I hold him?"_

_She glanced up from the boy's face. "He's fine, and you can't feed him at this age," she pointed out. _

_Brisco shook his head. "I didn't think you would be the type to hog a baby." _

_Dixie mock-gasped. "Did you hear that, Alistair? Your daddy just compared me to a pig. Now, if he's wise, he'll say he's sorry or he won't have anything sweet and sour."_

_"Alistair," Brisco replied, lying back down in the hay. "Yesterday, he was Francis." _

_Dixie turned over, gently disengaging Alistair from her nipple. "Yesterday he looked like a Francis." She patted the baby's back, burping him against her shoulder. "We can't just call him Brisco too." _

_Brisco tilted his head thoughtfully. "A.F. A.F County."_

_She turned, looking back at him. "You really do have an answer for everything."_

_"It just has a nice ring to it." Brisco points out._

_"Here," she gently handed the baby over. "You've earned some cuddle time." _

_Brisco cradled little A.F. against his chest, and Dixie was stricken by how small he looked against the canvas of his chest. "There we are," she yawned, buttoning her blouse. "Do you think we could get another hour?"_

_"Mm," he yawned. "We'll eat later."_

_She smiled as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Colorado, here we come."_

_"And there we stay," he reminded her._

_"Brisco," she said, "do you ever worry that a person can be too happy?"_

_"I'd rather too happy than miserable," he cupped her cheek. "We'll be together from now on."_

_"No separations?" she teased._

_"None."_

_"Good." She kissed A.F's head and Brisco's cheek. _

_"Gives you a different appreciation for hay, doesn't it?" Brisco asked. But he got no response. As the rooster crowed nearby, he looked over to see his wife and son sleeping peacefully beside him. _

***

As Dixie finished the story, she felt her son's weight sag in her arms, succumbing to slep himself.

"He always could fall asleep anywhere," Brisco said, picking up the boy and carrying him to his cradle. They loomed over him protectively, watching his slight movements in the cot.

"If you have any problems…What am I saying? You know how to handle a problem."

Brisco shook his head. "The baby's not a gang of thugs," he pointed out.

"A gang of thugs would make a smaller mess than A.F." Dixie stroked his chest, contemplatively.

"Do you have a couple of minutes?" Brisco asked.

"I've got a show at nine," she reminded him, kissing his jaw.

"And we've got a soft bed going to waste in the next room."

She ran a hand down over his chest. "You do know how to tempt me, Brisco."

He tilted her backward. "Honey, that's your job," he replied, kissing her firmly.

THE END


End file.
